Aruna & the Sirens release the first single from their upcoming concept album on addiction and recovery. One of two songs on the record looking at the social costs of addiction, "City Hotel" recounts four unprovoked racist attacks of innocent people in Ontario, in the months following the Trump electoral victory in 2016. Two of the people in these stories died from their injuries, and in each of the four, the assailants were under the influence of alcohol, and/or other drugs.
The song is more country than anything Aruna has written before. "I felt that this theme of racial violence has been handled so well in other genres, and I love the wide open chords in country music for the harmonies by the Sirens."
Aruna and the Sirens are: Aruna Antonella Handa ( lead vocals and songwriter), Chris Adriaanse (upright bass), Alejandra Ballon, Caitlin Holland (vocals), Raphael Roter (drum set). Joining the band on this track are: Doug Tielli (on guitars), Tzevi Sherman (slide guitar), Olivia Blumenthal (vocals) and Sarah Byck (tambourine).
The band's first single, the Factor funded "Have You Seen My Sister?", was a response to the global surge in gender-based violence, and earned a nomination for Single of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards (2024).
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